Thrall
by not falling in love
Summary: Poor Rushton has been coerced to try and kill Elf! Is set the winter after the end of TKP. Chapter 3 up. Please R & R! Rated K for some minor violence... the knife! ON HIATUS INDEFINATELY DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST.
1. Coerced

**_Chapter 1: Coerced_**

**A/N: This is the _revised_ version of the first chapter, for I despised the first version. I also put in an author's note. Yay. It is totally rewritten, so it'll be a lot better!**

**So, if you're reading this… for the sole reason that you might be…**

**R & R? Please?**

**Have fun reading!**

**Not Falling in Love**

**Ps. Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never will. I'm not the great IC. Don't sue… though, if you do sue, obviously you have a very boring life and nothing better to do than beat the crap out of someone who is only trying to extend the story a little beyond the end of the penultimate book before the last comes out with a bit of imagination.**

The snow was all around me, like some white blanket, only much colder.

The coldwhite.

Maruman hated it, just like he hated the moon.

With a mittened hand, I swept all of the snow off the stone bench, and sat on it. The stone was icy cold, and I shifted uncomfortably. I drew my hood over my head tighter, clenching my teeth to stop them chattering.

The green bushes of the greenthorn maze were directly in front of me, garlanded with white. The roses were looking a mite bit dead.

Winter was all around me. I hated winter. It was by far the longest season in the mountains that surrounded Obernewtyn, but it was the season I hated the most. Sometimes, I almost longed for the Days of Rain.

Just thinking about the mountains set off another thought. The weaponmachines.

Where, among the white-capped peaks, were the machines of destruction lying, waiting to be used for their dread purpose?

For a moment, the thought almost convinced me that I saw brown smoke on the horizon, just like the vision I had seen through Marisa Seraphim's diary. I shivered at the memory. There were so many horrible thoughts in that little book, so many horrible thoughts that I could unlock.

Those thoughts that were imbued on the pages could bring about the destruction of the world. Again.

It was by the grip of the same fear that I had convinced the community here to burn the front doors. Those doors were once intricately carved, by a Twentyfamilies gypsy, with symbols that were meant for one person. Who was namely me.

I had put the idea forth to Guildmerge, who had initially rejected the idea, but then in desperation I had put forth a case, saying that we could burn them for the gold inlaid between the symbols. For that reason, they agreed. So after the burning of the doors, all of the Guildmasters and Guildmistresses had golden armbands and I was eased of the fright that someone might be able to either find the map inside the doors or be able to read the symbols.

I rubbed my armband unconsciously.

The bush that concealed the entrance to my not-so-secret sanctuary rustled. I hastily stood up, trying to look busy. But for no need, for it was merely Maruman.

"Greetings," I sent, sitting back down with a _whoof._

"Greetings Innle," he replied, his one eye regarding me passively. He tensed his hind legs, and jumped up onto my lap. I stroked his funnily shaped head softly. "Why are youout in the coldwhite? Inside is muchwarmer." His tone was arch. Maruman was becoming an old cat, and preferred the comfort of indoors more often these days. Also, with his age, his fey trances were coming more often and were now even more severe. He would wander back, lucid after a period of madness, with large amounts of fur missing, thin as a stick and half-dead. It was worrying me. Another thing to add to the list. I sighed.

"Outside is much calmer/quieter than within," I said, biting the inside of my cheek.

"Marumanyelloweyes doesnot think this is so," he sent back, somewhat mischievously. I sighed again.

"I had a quarrel/fight," I sent dejectedly, desisting from stroking his head and putting my hand inside my cloak. Truly, it was a bitter winter's day.

"With who? Funaga or beast?"

"Rushton," I replied, sighing yet again. Maruman didn't seem to mind.

"Ah," he sent, refusing to add anything. We sat there for a while, in silence, and it had begun to snow lightly.

I found myself musing over the beginnings of the fight. Being cooped up together with one's love is not always a bad thing. But we had been trapped indoors for the whole winter, with nothing being able to be done out on the outdoors due to the freezing snow. A few things were simmering quietly between us, and one was the Empath Guildmaster. The other was the obvious gaps that he was beginning to sense in my stories, for example the mysterious healing of my maimed legs. And today, it had come to a confrontation, with Rushton accusing me of keeping secrets from him. It wasn't far from the truth. Unable to give an acceptable answer, I had just merely grabbed my cloak and had swept out of the room, into the hall and finally outside. I just couldn't bear to lie to him. So I walked out.

"Donot wait overlong to apologize to Rushtonlove," he said, rubbing his head against my knee.

"I know," I said, feeling a tear slip out of my eye. It almost froze immediately. I brushed it away and let my face fall into my woolen palms.

The bush rustled again, and this time I didn't stand up, but Maruman jumped off my lap, and onto the ground, slipping behind the bench, out of sight. I just sat there, head in hands, not being bothered to look up. Someone sat beside me, and I knew immediately who it was.

"Hello, love," Rushton said, slipping an arm around my shoulders. I leant against him. Maruman made a disgusted mental noise and I bit my lip to stop laughing. He hated any signs of funaga affection.

"Hello," I replied softly, hoping that he was not still mad at me.

"It's quite cold out here, you know," he said, shivering a bit. This time, I did laugh. Softly, though.

"Oh, but I hadn't noticed," I drawled sarcastically, managing to coax a chuckle out of him. It was then that I noticed something amiss. Rushton_ never_ laughed like that. That chuckle was more than a little strained, if a bit hoarse. When Rushton actually laughed, it was merry and infectious. And then, I saw what the other hand held.

A knife.

Oh Lud, Rushton was trying to kill me!

I threw a quick probe at his mind, finding an alien consciousness wrapped around his defenses like a malicious snake.

I whipped the probe back into myself, and let it sink quickly through the levels of consciousness. I went down so fast I was nearly catapulted into the deadly mindstream. Alarmed, I stopped my headlong descent and found what I was looking for. The dark power.

Mentally, I grabbed and rope, and pulled it up with me, the power unraveling like a black cord behind me.

I didn't have time to think. I let the power pour from me into Rushton's mind. The alien mind wrapped around him took the brunt of the power, but without any physical contact the owner of the mind whip-lashed its consciousness away. But I couldn't stop the flow once it had started, and it was now directed at Rushton himself!

Desperate though I tried, I couldn't stop it.

The knife fell from his nerveless fingers, sticking into the ground point first, the hilt quivering.

Rushton fell off the bench, hitting the ground with a dull _thud_.

Maruman came out of his hiding place, and sat by Rushton's head.

"Belovedloved tried to kill/murder you," he observed.

I collapsed on the bench, crying.

**End A/N:**

**Ok. Two things:**

**Is it Marisa Seraphim? **

**What do the animals call themselves? Is it just beast?**

**Now review! Or you won't get any more!**

**Awww… writing that made me awll sad!**


	2. Kella

**_Chapter 2: Kella_**

**  
A/N: Without any prodding, I'm updating. **

**But really, that begs the question just _why_ I'm putting an A/N in if nobody's gonna read it.**

**So…. Please? R & R!**

I sat down hard against the bench, breathing erratically. My left hand was like a claw, digging into my chest. I tried to breathe normally. It was like my lungs were constricting, trying to punish me for the awful thing that I had just done. Tears streamed out of my eyes, unheeding of my right hand trying to wipe them away.

My hands came together in front of my face, and I let my face rest in them, sobbing helplessly. Maruman merely sat by Rushton's head, not giving me any comfort whatsoever.

I was left to my own torturous conscience, and it was almost physically smashing me across the head. All of the things that I had ever done that I blamed myself for came back: Matthew's slavery, Dragon's coma, Jik's death… the tears fell faster, and faster, like a storm that refused to cease. Like a wet firestorm, it raged inside me, charring my insides with an unsympathetic ferocity.

What had I done?

What had I done, that I had just killed my beloved?

It was entirely my own fault.

In that moment, I hated myself more than I ever had before.

In that moment, I was even sadder than I had ever recalled being, even after being orphaned, even after my brother's death.

Even when Jes died, I had Rushton there to comfort me, even though at that time I had hated him.

This time, I had no one. Not even an insane old cat. That particular insane old cat refused to help me with this one.

I rocked back and forth slowly, self destructive thoughts filling my mind quick and fast.

"Belovedloved is not longsleeping yet."

I looked up through bloodshot eyes, filled with a type of despair that I had hoped to never feel again. Maruman had left the side of Rushton's head, and had come over to sit before my feet.

"What do you mean?" I sent back stupidly, my hands digging into the side of my head. "I killed him. He didn't even have mindshield. Even as funaga go, he is weak." Those bitter words about Rushton hurt more, another rock on my mountain of grief.

"Rushtonlove is not in longsleep," Maruman repeated, his one eye regarding me without any discernable pity.

"He is not longsleeping?" I sent back, desperate for Maruman to be right. Desperate for anything at all.

"Notnow." Maruman closed his eye slowly, lethargically, and kept it shut for a while, refusing to say anything else. After a stretch, after I was nearly ready to pick him up and shake him like a doll for the answer, he finally said, "He has been rendered like Mornir."

Like Mornir?

For a moment, my mind failed to grasp what he was saying. And then I remembered.

The animals called Dragon mornir, which meant, "bright mane".

Rendered like Dragon?

That meant I had made him comatose.

"Kella! Kella! Kella Kella Kella!"

I ran into the Healer's Hall, disheveled and tear-stained, my clothes a total mess, and Maruman close upon my heels. The main part of the Healer hall was bereft of the girl who I sought. Many sick people had woken up at my unrestrained summons, and were murmuring in annoyance to be thus disturbed. I ignored them, and instead searched for Roland. He wasn't there either, so I ran into the antechamber, my cries becoming more desperate. Then I saw her.

"Kella!" I shouted, running over to her, Maruman jumping on the bed that held the woman that Kella was tending. Next to her a boy that I didn't know was looking on with interest. The woman's face was bright red, five large lumps standing out milk-white against the scarlet. Kella looked up, dropping a towel into a basin of water.

"Elspeth!" she said, rushing over to where I stood. I must have looked a sight for her peaceful expression to change so rapidly. The normally reserved Guildmistress of the Farseekers looking like a total mess was something that didn't happen everyday in Obernewtyn. "What's wrong?" Kella asked, looking anxious. When I didn't reply, she put her hand to my forehead, feeling my temperature. It would have been high, for I had sprinted from the greenthorn maze. I was still gasping for air.

"Can we talk outside?" I ground out through grit teeth, ignoring the look that the guildmember gave me. Kella must have then noticed my eyes for she gave me a curt nod, touching the arm of the boy and giving him quick, terse instructions. Then she followed me out into the courtyard.

"What is it?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself. I bustled her out of the hall so quickly she didn't even have time to grab a cloak. I felt sorry for her, but felt that the issue that I had to tell her of was extremely more important. But I was hesitant, for telling her the whole truth would mean that I had to trust her implicitly.

"What I tell you, do you promise to tell nobody else, absolutely nobody else, unless I give you leave?" These words hurt me, for I did trust Kella, but what I had to tell her was so grave that I had to extract an oath.

"I swear," she said, looking worried now. "What is it? What happened?" I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, uncaring of the warm salty blood that spurted into my mouth.

"I…" the words died premature in my throat, and I had to swallow before I started again. I decided to get straight into the thick of it. "I can kill with my mind."

"You… what!" Kella was dumbstruck. I didn't doubt it.

"My brother had it too," I continued shakily. "But if I don't want to hurt them enough, I can only make them comatose. Do you remember, when we were escaping from Henry Druid's camp? Remember that guard, who grabbed my arm, he suddenly fell unconscious? I used it then…" She was now pasty white.

"You jest."

"I used it once to protect Rushton." I ignored her. "Then I swore to never use it lightly again."

"Elspeth," she said, grabbing onto my lower arm with an iron grip. "What happened? What, in Lud's name, what happened?" Kella ground the words out.

"He… Rushton… he tried to kill me."

"He tried to _what!_" I could tell that now Kella thought me insane. No wonder.

"I believe that he was coerced to try to kill me."

"Why on earth would anyone want to kill _you?_ Forgive me, Elspeth, but you are no one so special that a Misfit would want to kill you!"

"I am, and for what reasons I cannot tell you."

"Alright," Kella said, taking a deep breath. "So, what happened?"

"I hit him with the dark power. He has no mindshield. But, instead of dying…" I swallowed. This was hard. "He's comatose."

"Like Dragon?"

"Yes," I said, feeling a treacherous tear escape my eyelid.

"Take me to him," she demanded, but then stopped. "But first, I must get my cloak."

She disappeared into the Healer's hall.

**A/N: Well, at least it was a bit longer! Please R & R! Noo, I would not be so harsh as to kill our fair Rushton off. I shall update soon!**

**Not falling in love**


	3. A Serious Condition

_**Chapter 3: A Serious Condition**_

**A/N: Hey hey! Its me again!**

**With one really subliminal message:**

**R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. R&R. **

**Was that subliminal enough?**

**Now read!**

**Not Falling in Love**

**Ps. you _have_ to read the first chapter again if you've already read it. It's totally different and lots longer. Cheers!**

**Pps. All my reviewers? (Even though there's not that many of you)… I love you! I seriously love you!**

"Oh, Lud." Kella pursed her lips, and her wan look deepened. I bit my lip. "We have to get him inside, into the Healer's hall. There's nothing I can do for him out here… and not very much at all inside," she added, wringing her hands. The snow had begun to fall again, dusting our hair with white. I looked up at the clouds. They were not promising, some light grey whorled with a dark colour almost black.

"The weather is going to become worse," I informed Kella, and then added, "It might even become a blizzard." A gust of icy wind cooled the sweat and tears on my face. I shivered and pushed my face furthur into my hood.

"I don't think that we can carry him by ourselves…" she said, putting a hand on his forehead. Rushton's face was now milk-pale. I could see now that he was breathing, even if somewhat erratically. I ran a soft finger down his cold cheek. What had I done now?

"No… he would be too heavy. We don't want to give him concussion or something like that by dragging his across the ground all the way to the Healer's hall. His condition is grave enough already." I felt another tear slip out of my eye. I impatiently brushed it away. I was now the Mistress of Obernewtyn by default. There could be no breaking down. I grit my teeth. "Would there be anyone out here?" She shrugged.

"I don't think so. I think that everyone's inside… except for the animals."

"A horse!" I cried, looking up. "We can take him back on Gahltha's back!"

"Of course," Kella murmured, feeling around his head. "Oh Lud… I think he might've cracked his skull too!"

"Oh, Lud… Oh, Lud no…" My voice cracked, and I closed my mouth to stop any other weakened words from spilling out. She looked at me enquiringly. "What?" I asked.

"Could you please call Gahltha? We have to get him inside and warm as quickly as possible."

"Of course," I replied quietly, feeling slightly stupid. I closed my eyes, and sent out a probe attuned to Gahltha's mindset. He was quickly found, in one of the sheds, with Avra and the new foal, Saoirse. The proud parents had chosen the name because it meant freedom, and this was what they wanted her to be for all of her life. Free.

"What is the cause/meaning of yoursummons, ElspethInnle?" Gahltha sent, his mental voice happy and relaxed. I explained the situation to him quickly, and Gahltha reassured me that he would be here right away. I thanked him profusely, and then broke the contact. I bit my lip. Then I saw Kella's enquiring face.

"He shall be here as quick as he can," I said quietly, biting my lip even harder. I tasted blood. Another tear escaped from my eye, and I mentally cursed, wiping it away. No time for weakness!

We stood in the freezing snow for a while, both of our gazes resting on Rushton's almost peaceful face. Rapidly, he was becoming paler, and paler. My gaze kept on blurring over, and more than a couple of times I had to surreptitiously wipe my eyes against my sleeve. I wondered where on earth Gahltha was.

Suddenly, I could hear the sound of drumming hooves. That would be Gahltha. I struggled out the alcove by the bush, and surely enough, I could see him, galloping flat out. He pulled himself up into a sudden halt a mere ten handspans away from me. The concerned look in his liquid eyes was enough to set my own eyes off _again._ I wished that they would just leave me alone.

"I will bear/bring yourlove to the barudbuilding," he told me solemnly, nudging my shoulder with his muzzle. I ran my hands over it, velvety soft, for a moment, before running back through the bush to Kella.

"Help me get him out of here. Gahltha cannot fit through the opening," I told Kella, who nodded sharply in reply. She took ahold of his wrists, which left me to grasp his ankles. Between us, we struggled to lift him up, and it was a severe challenge to get all of us out of the little area. Nonetheless, we managed it, but not without much panting and cursing. Kella used phrases that I wasn't even aware that a demure Healer such as herself would even hear of, let alone use. Once we had staggered out of the alcove, we almost dropped Rushton's comatose body in relief. Despite the wish to do this, we lowered him carefully to the ground. I didn't know that a comatose man could _weigh _so much!

Gahltha knelt to receive the body. We draped him across Gahltha's back, which was the easiest and safest option we could think of. There was a near mishap when Gahltha stood up again, and we decided that one of us should ride behind him so to make sure that he didn't fall off the horse due to a lack of restraint. I jumped up onto the horse, and quickly sat myself behind Rushton's body. I found it easier to wrap my arms around his shoulders to keep him falling off than any other way that I could think of. Slowly, Gahltha set off in a walk, and with the swaying of this movement, his body moved limply in my arms. His head lolled backwards, and it gave me the faint impression that his neck might snap. I just held on even tighter, and locked my knees into place.

"Make haste," I sent to Gahltha, and he broke into a trot.

After a long and jerky ride, we had arrived at the Healer's hall. Unable to carry Rushton all by myself, I merely eased him to the ground. I left Gahltha with instructions to guard him while I was gone. I ran into the hall, screaming at the top of my lungs, "ROLAND!" The patients were woken for the second time this day by me, and grumbled insults in my direction. I ignored them, and when I saw Roland, I ran to him, where he was applying a poultice to a nasty wound. He looked at me with cool eyes. I remembered that I still hadn't told him the real reason behind the mysterious healing of my legs. And hopefully, he would never know the full reason behind it.

"Elspeth," he greeted me coolly, wiping his poultice-covered hands on a convenient towel. "What appears to be the problem?" After looking at me, just like Kella, his expression turned more serious. He repeated his question, softer this time.

"I think you had better come and see for yourself," I said grimly. He nodded gravely. I lead him out of the Healer's hall, to where Gahltha was standing beside Rushton's body.

"Oh, Lud." All of the colour drained out from his face. "That is a problem."

**A/N: Question: Is Gahltha and Avra's foal a girl or a boy? I forget **

**Also, I beg your forgiveness for the pointlessness of these past… 1000 odd words. In the next chapter, something will actually happen!**

**At least, I updated.**

**Hope you enoyed!**


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